Murder Vows (Storage Ghost Murders Book 4) (8 page)

“It’s
not illegal, not really. Well, it is but we won’t get caught,” Archie said.

“Never
mind ‘we’, it’s me that will get the blame.” Grace paused as she thought about
something. “Will it help with our investigations?”

“It
certainly will.”

“Will
I get caught?”

“No.
I’m going to help you install some of our company software. Think of it as a
cloaking device, lots of companies have them. Grace, look at me.”

Grace
did so. Archie gave her an earnest smile. “You don’t have to do this. I don’t
want you to do anything you’re uncomfortable with.”

Grace
relented. “If it helps us to find out who killed you then I’m in. Are we going
to hack in to police records? Look at witness statements? Can we look at the
coroner’s report?”

“You’ve
been watching too many television programmes. I was going to suggest the
hotel’s CCTV system. It’s one that my company installed. The hotel doesn’t keep
recordings from that far back but we always do, just in case a customer needs
them. We could look at the day of the wedding, see who was there.”

Grace
couldn’t hide the disappointment in her voice. “So, we’re going to hack in to
your old company?”

“Yes.
Don’t look so disappointed, it’s still a tricky thing to do.” Archie wiggled
his eyebrows. “We can always break into MI5 after that.”

At
Archie’s instructions Grace fired up her computer. Archie was shocked at the
low level of security that she had in place. “It’s a wonder your identity
hasn’t been stolen. I could work out your passwords and bank information in two
minutes.”

Archie
gave instructions on how to upload several security programmes along with the
cloaking programme he’d first mentioned. In a few clicks Grace was looking at
The Sycamore Hotel’s logo. Archie told her to type in the day of the wedding.
Two camera angles came up, one from behind the main reception desk, and one
from outside the ground floor lifts.

“This
should give us all we need,” Archie said. He pointed to the screen. “Look, 8
a.m. and you can see the caterers arriving. And here are the flowers. And there
I am.”

“You
were there early,” Grace said.

“I
wanted to make sure everything ran smoothly. Fast forward a bit. Okay. Stop.
Here is the happy father of the bride.”

“He
looks like he’s going to a funeral.” Grace paused. “Sorry, I didn’t mean it
like that but he doesn’t look happy. Sylvia looks like she’s trying to cheer
him up. They’re a funny couple, aren’t they?”

“Love
brings all sorts together. He’s a lucky man. For some reason Sylvia loves him.
She was the only one in the family that welcomed me in. She took an interest in
my work. I helped her set up Gordon’s website. She was fascinated by what you
could find online, she even found old photographs of herself when she was a
model. Hang on! What’s he doing there?”

“Who?”
Grace peered at the screen. “Is that Jessie coming in? She is beautiful. Who’s
that with her?” Grace looked back at Archie. She cried out, “Archie! Calm down!
You’re going all shimmery, you’ll disappear if you’re not careful.”

Archie’s
body flickered as if deciding whether to disappear or stay. Grace heard Archie
muttering something. The flickering of his body stopped and Archie returned to
his normal self. His mouth twisted as he looked at the screen. He said, “Sorry,
Grace, I didn’t mean to frighten you. That is Jessie, but that man at her side,
the one carrying her bags? That’s Rob, the one I told you about before. He said
he wasn’t going to be at the wedding. Jessie invited him, I tried not to mind,
I wanted her to be happy. Rob turned up at my house after receiving the invite.
He was furious and called me all the names under the sun. He said he’d come to
my wedding over my dead body.”

Grace
looked at the image on the screen, then back at Archie. “I don’t mean to sound
rude but he’s quite rough-looking, and overweight. I don’t think you had
anything to worry about. Had Jessie ever shown any romantic feelings towards
Rob?”

“None
at all. She laughed when I said he fancied her. She said they were like brother
and sister. Look at him! Giving her a peck on the cheek!”

“He
doesn’t look as if he’s dressed for the wedding, he looks like he’s in his work
clothes. Maybe he was giving her a lift.”

“Hmm.
I didn’t know he was there at all that day. I didn’t see him at the ceremony.”
Archie said. In a softer voice he added, “Jessie does look beautiful, doesn’t
she? Wait until you see her in her wedding dress. Fast-forward, please, it’s
guests arriving. And me flashing backwards and forwards, trying to get everything
perfect.”

Grace
hit the pause button, she laughed. “I see you’ve used your charm on Ms R.
Berry, you’ve made her smile.”

“Pardon?
Who’s Ms R. Berry?”

Grace
tapped the screen. “That woman on reception. She’s smiling at you.”

Archie
looked closer. “I remember her, didn’t smile at me once all day. Look again,
she’s smiling at someone behind me.”

“I
wonder who.” Grace pressed fast-forward again. She slowed down as Jessie walked
down the hall in her wedding dress. She couldn’t meet Archie’s look, this must
be agony for him. Gordon was proudly smiling at his daughter as they walked
together. Sylvia had gone ahead a few minutes before, looking stunning.

“This
is when we got married. There was a lovely room at the back of the hotel that
overlooked the fields, it was beautiful.”

Grace
could feel herself choking up. She blinked away a tear. Jessie and Gordon moved
out of view.

“Stop!”
Archie called out. “Rob’s walked up to reception. What’s he still doing at the
hotel?”

Grace
shrugged, she was wondering that too.

“You
can fast-forward the next few hours. We were having the photographs done, and
then we went into the ballroom. Stop when you get to 3 p.m. Thanks, Grace, I
hope this isn’t boring for you.”

Grace
wished she could give Archie a reassuring hug. “Don’t worry about me, I’m
concerned about you. Are you sure you want to continue?”

“We
have to. There, 3 p.m. That’s me, coming out of the ballroom. Why am I rubbing
my head?” Archie clicked his fingers. “That’s it! I had a migraine. There were
flashing lights in the ballroom, even though I’d asked the DJ not to use them. 
I told Jessie I’d have to lie down for a while. I always carry my migraine
tablets with me. I took a few just before I left the ballroom. Jessie was going
to check on me in half an hour.”

The
CCTV showed Archie getting into a lift, he’d undone his tie and top button.

Twenty-five
minutes later Jessie appeared. She headed towards the lift but was stopped by
Rob who waved to her from the main doors. His mouth moved and he indicated to
something outside. Jessie nodded and went out of the doors with him.

Archie
and Grace looked at each other. Grace assumed her expression matched Archie’s
puzzled one.

Five
minutes after that, Gordon headed for the lift, a grim look on his face. He got
in the lift.

He
returned to the main reception area twenty minutes later, his face ashen.
Jessie came in just at that moment. Gordon put his arm around her shoulders and
spoke to her.

Jessie’s
hands flew to her mouth. Archie cried out and reached for the screen as Jessie
collapsed in Gordon’s arms

Chapter 17

Silence.

Neither
Archie nor Grace spoke as they watched the scene in front of them unfold.
People rushed in from all sides. Gordon picked Jessie up, she looked like a
limp rag doll in his arms He carried her out of shot, closely followed by some
of the hotel staff. Grace watched as other people appeared. From the shock on
their faces it was obvious that they had heard about Archie’s death.

Grace
saw movement at her side. Her heart twisted as Archie slumped forward, his head
in his hands. Grace paused the video and said quietly, “I’m so sorry, Archie,
this must be so difficult for you.”

Archie
looked up, pain in his eyes. He gave a slow nod, cleared his throat and said,
“The look on Jessie’s face ...” His voice broke and he looked away.

Grace
wished again she could put her arms around him. How could you comfort a ghost?
She said, “We can stop there, I don’t think we need to see more.”

Archie
turned back to her, a brave smile on his face. “No, we need to see the rest of
it. We don’t want to miss anything important. We can fast-forward it though, I
imagine the police were called and people questioned. Don’t look so worried,
Grace, I’m fine.”

Archie
was right about the police being called. There were comings and goings on the
screen, in the reception area and the lifts. Sylvia seemed to be the one who
had taken control. It was easy to see the grief on her face but she kept her
composure as she led the police back and forth. She spoke to the guests as they
left and even organised the removal of the wedding gifts.

Grace
and Archie watched as the police finally left. Grace felt her heart actually
miss a beat as a covered figure was carried away on a stretcher.

“That’ll
be me then,” Archie said in a flat voice.

Grace
gave a slight nod. What could she say to that comment?

She
pointed to the screen. “Gordon and Jessie are leaving now, Gordon looks as
dazed as Jessie. I wonder where her wedding dress is?” A guilty pause. “Sorry,
Archie, that’s a stupid thing to say, it doesn’t matter where her dress went.”

“It
does matter, I haven’t forgotten about our friendly dancing ghost who’s wearing
that dress now. Perhaps she left it in another room? Maybe Sylvia and Gordon’s
room. I wonder where they went next. Hang on, who’s that? I don’t believe it!”
Archie’s hands curled in to fists. “It’s Rob! Look at him, putting his arm
around Jessie. Get your hands off, you filthy ...”

Grace
interrupted his rant. “Had Rob been at the hotel all the time? Please calm
down, Archie, you’re going all out of focus again.”

Archie’s
jaw tightened. “I don’t trust him, I never have. I bet it was him who killed
me, the swine.”

Grace
looked at the CCTV footage. Everyone had left, the only people remaining were
the hotel staff. They looked as if they wanted to gossip about the events but a
stern look from Ms Berry had them scuttling away.

Grace
stopped the video. She took a breath and turned to face Archie. “From what
we’ve just seen I don’t think it was Rob who killed you. It was Gordon who told
Jessie about your death, it must have been him who discovered you. And, I hope
you don’t mind me pointing this out, he was gone a good twenty minutes before
he told Jessie about you. He headed to the lifts and didn’t return back
downstairs for those twenty minutes. That would give him enough time to murder
you, and then cover his tracks, before returning to the wedding. Archie, I know
this is difficult but can you think of a reason why Gordon would want to kill
you?”

Archie
ran his hand through his hair. He stopped and looked at Grace. “Oh! Of course!
My brain is turning to mush, why can’t I remember anything? New York! I was
going to take a job in New York. I’d set a company up there and I was going to
be running it from the city. Jessie was coming with me, she was so excited and
talked about it all the time. Gordon hated the idea but I thought he’d come
round.”

“Would
he really kill you to keep Jessie here?” Grace asked.

Archie
nodded. “Jessie is his only child. He was so proud of her, so happy to have her
working with him in the family business. He was always boasting about how
wonderful she was. I knew he used to annoy some people with his boasts but, of
course, I completely agreed with him. If I had a daughter like Jessie I’d hate
the man who tried to take her away. Also, he never really liked me, I could
tell.” He paused and then nodded again. “I think we’ve found our murderer.”

“You
could be right. Now, we need to find the evidence to convict him. That’s not
going to be easy, he’s obviously covered his tracks or the police would have
arrested him.”

“I
wonder what he told them,” Archie mused.

“Oh!”
Grace threw her hands up. “Now my brain is turning to mush! We should have done
this first.” She turned towards her laptop and started to tap the keys.

“What
are you looking for?” Archie asked.

“Newspaper
reports about your death. We can see what the official version was. Are you
ready for this?”

“As
ready as I’ll ever be.”

Chapter 18

Grace
typed in the date of the wedding, Archie’s full name and ‘death’. A few entries
came up. Grace and Archie scanned them.

Grace
pressed her lips together, this wasn’t looking good for Archie. After a while
Archie seemed to have digested all the information in front of them. He said,
“Well, I wasn’t expecting that.”

“Neither
was I. The reports are saying the same thing, that you were the victim of a
break-in at the wedding.”